The Red Sox have injuries, they have a star player in Adrian Gonzalez who is in a power drought. They also have the hottest-hitting rookie in baseball.

Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals have received more hype, but combined they have less home runs, less RBI and a lower batting average in spite of 35 more at-bats.

David Ortiz may lead the Red Sox in nearly every major offensive statistical category but Will Middlebrooks is leading the team in hype. That's not always a good thing, but in this case, it might be.

This is a Red Sox team that needs a rallying point. The team's record is made up of road wins against weak teams and heartbreaking home losses to divisional rivals. The home losses have been a stark reminder of all the things wrong with the Red Sox. The road wins have been essential and are the primary reason for optimism among Sox fans.

Monday night's game had all the ingredients of another potential gut-wrenching loss. The Red Sox held a lead against an inferior team. Nursing a 7-4 lead the Sox had runners on second and third and were a mere fly ball from a needed insurance run or a single away from blowing the game open. They got neither and when the Royals loaded the bases with none out and a run home in the bottom of the inning, disaster seemed imminent.

That disaster was averted. Vincente Padilla induced a Billy Butler double play to escape the jam, and in the top of the eighth, Middlebrooks put the game out of reach with a two-run home run. His second home run of the night and third extra base hit of the game put the Sox up 11-5.

On a team with its fair share of underachievers, to have a 23-year-old rookie mashing the ball to all fields at this juncture in the season isn't just nice. It's darn near essential for this team. The Red Sox are in a funk. There are still many things wrong with this team -- injuries being at the forefront of that list -- and they won't find any overnight fixes.

The Red Sox would love to win games by dominating on the mound and at the plate but they're in no position to be choosy. This team needs wins -- period.

Will Middlebrooks seems quite comfortable playing a key role and he couldn't be arriving at a better time.